Michigan

Even days off have purpose

AP File PhotoDetroit coach Rod Marinelli is showing a deft hand at how to handle his team.

ALLEN PARK -- Rod Marinelli is not a whimsical man.

Marinelli, the Detroit Lions head coach, did something on Monday that he hasn't done in the 22 months since he took the job - he gave his players the day off. Why now, after all this time? Marinelli had his reasons.

Was it a reward for their 6-2 record? Was it a little sugar for whipping the bejabbers out of the Denver Broncos 44-7 on Sunday? Or, perhaps, a pat on the back for exceeding expectations so far this season?

Well, if you want to look at it that way, that's fine with Marinelli. But he didn't give the players the day off because it seemed like the right thing to do or because he's going soft. He did it for a very important strategic reason.

"One, I felt it was probably pretty good to get away from me. No, I'm serious. I felt it was important," Marinelli said. "I have a tendency to put pressure on these guys - a lot of pressure. I think it's not so much physically, it's mentally."

During this past offseason, Lions president Matt Millen was asked to describe to Marinelli in one word.

"Purposeful," Millen said. "Everything he does - and I mean everything - is done with a purpose."

Marinelli should not only get high marks for his coaching ability in terms of strategy, scheme and motivation, but he's also showing a deft hand at how to handle his team. He knows when to push and when to push a little harder. He also knows when to ease off. No matter how good your message is or how eloquently you deliver it, eventually young men are going to tune you out. It's human nature.

Marinelli has been harping on these guys for 22 months with the same message over and over and over. It's gotten through, of that there can be no doubt. But now he doesn't want to overdo it so he kicked them loose. With their scheduled day off on Tuesday, the Lions will have 48 hours to unwind before they report to practice on Wednesday.

"I want them coming back knocking the doors down and anxious to get ready to go again," Marinelli said.

Marinelli drew a few snickers from the media during his weekly press conference Monday when he repeatedly said "The bar is high." Folks around here had heard that before - it was one of the first things Marty Mornhinweg had declared when he took over as head coach in 2001. It turned out to be a punchline, not a declaration.

With Marinelli, though, it's different because the results are already in. The bar has already been established and just as his team collectively reaches up to grab it, Marinelli keeps boosting it a little higher. Don't think for a minute that it was an accident or slip of the tongue when Marinelli told his team in the offseason that he believed they could be an elite team.

Marinelli never said that to his players during his first year on the job because he knew it wasn't true. But as he saw the character develop on the team in the offseason, he felt it was right and so he laid it on the line.

"I know we have talent, we have good talent. I thought if we could come together as a team and play team football ... I thought we'd have a chance to be an elite team," he said. "It's what I felt we could be and I had to tell them. You can't be scared to say that. People say 'I don't want to say that because everybody's going to measure me toward that.' Who cares? I could care less. I just say what I mean."

Marinelli didn't say it on a whim, he knew exactly what he was doing when he challenged his players with that. Marinelli has calculated every decision and measured every step and everything he does is with a purpose, whether it's pushing his players beyond their limit or giving them the day off.